Planning your Itinerary in Laos
The ideal itinerary, IF you have two weeks for Laos AND the wonderful Gibbon Experience was sold out:
4 days in Luang Prabang, including half-day trips to Pak Ou Caves and Kuang Si Waterfall
4-5 days in Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoi, including travel time
3 days trekking among the hill tribes out of Luang Namtha + 1 day travel time
If you got a place on the 3-day Gibbon Experience, and you only have 2 weeks for Laos, then either skip Luang Namtha (if you don’t like trekking), or skip Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoi. Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoi are wonderful, but if you only have two weeks AND you got a place on the Gibbon Experience AND you want to trek in real jungle, then Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoi are what you should skip from the list above. But I really hope you don’t have to make that choice.
DON’T skip anything in the list above just to do the 2-day Gibbon Express, that would be a mistake. The Gibbon Express is just ziplining, outside of the nature reserve and with no wildlife. Only the 3-day Gibbon Experience justifies skipping Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoi if you are forced to make that choice.
For information on booking lodging, transport and activites in Laos, click here.
Building an itinerary piece by piece, depending on your route and how much time you have:
Absolutely, positively visit Luang Prabang, the jewel of Indochina – 3 days minimum, preferably 4-5. If you do nothing else in Laos, do this. Two full days in this wonderful city – loaded with history, culture, beautiful architecture and great restaurants – is just barely enough to get a taste of it, plus you’ll have two half-day trips to the Pak Ou Caves (north of town, by Mekong riverboat) and the Kuang Si waterfall (south of town, by tuk-tuk or motorcycle). A 4th day gives you a chance to see everything. More days allow you to slow down and soak it all in.
After Luang Prabang, add in stunning karst scenery in EITHER Vang Vieng OR Nong Khiaw:
Vang Vieng is one hour from Luang Prabang by train (6 bone-jarring hours by bus), and you want 3 days there. Nong Khiaw is 4 hours from Luang Prabang by bus; Nong Khiaw together with the blissful, roadless riverside village of Muang Ngoi require at least 4 days (preferably 5):
Vang Vieng or Nong Khiaw?
Choose Vang Vieng (picture below) if:
You are in a big rush, and travel time is a major factor - Vang Vieng is located between Vientiane and Luang Prabang, an hour by train from either one
You like loud party towns
You’re more into inner tubing, paragliding, or ziplining than trekking, and/or
You are heading to or coming from the South (Thakhek, Pakse, the 4,000 Islands, and/or Cambodia).
Choose Nong Khiaw (picture below) if:
You have more time
You prefer idyllic riverside villages rather than loud party towns
You really want to trek, and/or
You are headed to or coming from the North (northern Laos, northern Thailand or northern Vietnam).
Nong Khiaw is the 2nd-best place to trek in all of Laos, and it isn’t too far from the #1 best place – Luang Namtha.
If you have more time, the best options include:
Do a 3-day trek amongst the hill tribes around Luang Namtha. This is by far the best place in Laos to trek — the only place you can trek in gorgeous, shade-giving old-growth jungle. And it’s not a big detour if you’re also doing the Gibbon Experience and/or visiting northern Thailand
Travel to Huay Xai on the Thai border, and do the wonderful 3-day Gibbon Experience (www.gibbonexperience.org). If you are visiting northern Thailand (Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Pai etc.) before or after Laos, then this is right on your way. Note: the 3-day Gibbon Experience is in a wilderness area with Laos’ last surviving jungle wildlife; the 2-day Gibbon Express is somewhere else – lots of fun ziplining, but not a wildlife experience.
Do one or both of the motorcycle loops in southern Laos. The scenery on the Thakhek loop is more dramatic than Bolaven, but it is quite similar to the karst scenery in Nong Khiaw and Vang Vieng. The scenery on the Bolaven Loop is more agricultural (plus some amazing waterfalls) and more like Cambodia – different to what you’ll see elsewhere in Laos. Both loops are beautiful and worth doing. If you can only do one, the choice depends in part on where else you’re going during your trip. (If you don’t want to motorbike, you can very easily hire a private driver to take you, but 3-4 days of the driver’s time, fuel, meals, and lodging will get expensive — drivers will approach you constantly in every city offering their services, so get several price quotes.) For general advice on motorcycling in Laos, click here.
If travelling to or from Sa Pa and/or the Ha Giang Loop in northern Vietnam, you’ll probably take the bus between Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam and Muang Khua in Laos. On most days, a boat travels the scenic Nam Ou (Ou River) route between Muang Khua and Nong Khiaw with its stunning karst scenery, making an intermediate stop at the idyllic roadless village of Muang Ngoi. Or, from Muang Khua you can take an 8-hour bus to Luang Namtha for the best trekking in Laos. While in Vietnam, stay in Dien Bien Phu for two nights so you can do the Dien Bien Phu Battlefield tour organised by Frontier Hostel – that 1954 battle is an extraordinary piece of history that you shouldn’t miss if you’ll be there.
The Plain of Jars near Phonsavan is fascinating, but beware that it takes a full day to get there and another full day to either go back or continue on to anywhere else, unless you pay big money for airplane tickets (flights from Vientiane only). You can read a lot about it on the internet and here — do your research, and then decide whether it’s worth skipping three days’ worth of other sites in Laos to go there.
The 4,000 Islands and their attendant waterfalls in far southern Laos are absolutely worth a stop if you’re travelling to or from Cambodia, and also if you’re already in Pakse to do the Bolaven Motorcycle Loop. If a very mellow, marijuana-infused riverside vibe is your scene, then you might come here and love it so much that you never leave. Many of the bartenders pouring your drinks or preparing your pizzas here are Westerners who did exactly that. But if you don’t already have other reasons to come south, it’s a very long detour.
Vientiane (Laos’ modern capital) is a city that sharply divides people — click on the link to read two very different opinions about it. Some (particularly those seeking adventure and excitement) hate it, think it’s useless, can’t wait to leave. Others find it enchanting to just wander around and hang out, not doing very much. Still others say that it was great in the past, but now it has become big, loud, noisy and unfriendly with not nearly enough “big city” attractions to compensate for that. I personally think you can fill 1-2 days there if waiting for a flight or something, but there are many, many places in Laos (listed above) where I much prefer to spend my time.
Be careful of outdated guidebooks describing NPAs (national protected areas) where you can still see jungle wildlife. During Covid when Laos lost all its tourist revenue, most wildlife were hunted to extinction for food.
The only place I know of where you can still see and hear jungle wildlife in Laos is on the 3-day Gibbon Experience (www.gibbonexperience.org).
In nearby Luang Namtha you can still hike through stunningly beautiful old-growth jungle, and have some great overnights with the hill tribes (see picture), but very few animals are left.
In Nam et-Phou Louey NPA I’m told you can still hear and see considerable birdlife (particularly at night), but ground animals are largely gone.
